David Salle

Several publications have written articles blaming a large cedar sculpture by Ursula von Rydingsvard for a series of illnesses suffered by agents working out of the Miami field office of the FBI. However, according to reporter Benjamin Sutton, there’s no evidence suggesting that the sculpture is responsible for these health problems according to Federal Occupational Health and General Services Administration. [Hyperallergic]

Here come the Best of Lists. Roberta Smith and Holland Cotter are out with theirs and it is expansive. Nice to see that the Times critics like that much art. It’s easy to become cynical in the field so it means a lot for two established critics to still support so much art. [The New York Times]

David Salle observes that over the last few decades a focus on theory and relational aesthetics has eroded the idea that art has an “aura”. We then, he asks, do we have to replace it with? [ARTnews]

I gotta say, I love this art handlers calendar. It’s all black and white photographs of art handlers posing with art face. [Etsy]

This story in Pitchfork about the Oakland warehouse fire is really touching—A bar tender donated his tips to those who lost housemates to help cover rent—but also gets at the struggles of musicians. Venues are vulnerable to displacement. “When you have these closures and this stagnation, people are forced into spaces that aren’t proper.” Said Michael Buchanan, a local booker. “And when they lack healthy ways to express themselves, it can be destructive.” [Pitchfork]

Already, a couple art events have potential for our 2015 “Best of”s. The American Realness Festival returns with some of the best performers in town; Jayson Musson debuts a new web series; Angela Washko keeps pushing for feminism in gaming; some of our favorite Internet artists are on a new press release.

Fuck yeah! The Bruce High Quality Foundation University—a one-room schoolhouse located just above a bodega—returns this fall. The BHQFU is like grad school, but it’s mostly free, with classes offered on nights and weekends. In a lot of ways it’s better than grad school—instructors are accessible, and unbounded by university bureaucracy, they end up crafting courses straight out of a dream notebook.